Firebirds hold off Dragons (Full Story)
May 31, 1998 - Final 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Totals Albany 48 Portland 45 Firebirds hold off Dragons
PORTLAND, Ore. - Albany Firebirds defensive back Derek Stingley finally woke up from his nightmare Sunday night.
After being victimized by Ryan Benjamin and missing some key tackles all night, Stingley came up with an interception in the end zone in the final seconds to preserve a 48-45 Firebirds victory over the Portland Forest Dragons at the Rose Garden.
Albany improved to 4-1, the best five-game start in the nine-year his- tory of the team, and Portland had a three-game winning streak stopped and fell to 3-2.
Both of the Forest Dragons' losses have come against the Firebirds, and Albany appeared to have a commanding lead in both games before Portland made it close at the end.
This time, the Firebirds took a 48-37 lead with 3:33 left on a one-yard run by Tim Brown, but Portland answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass from former Firebirds backup quarterback James Guidry to Aronde Gadsden with a minute left.
Then Ivan Caesar recovered an onside kick at the Portland 12, and Guidry drove the Forest Dragons to a first down at the Firebirds' 13-yard line with 42.8 seconds left.
Portland had burned all of its timeouts by then, though, and after completing a pass to Gadsden at the eight, Guidry wasted valuable time before spiking the ball to stop the clock with 12.7 seconds left.
Then Guidry tried to call a timeout, and was whistled for delay of game.
When play resumed, he tried to hit Ryan Benjamin in the end zone, but Stingley picked it off.
Firebirds quarterback Mike Pawlawski ran one play to kill the remaining seconds.
Albany led the entire game, but never by more than 15 points, at 27-12 midway through the second quarter.
Stingley, who has struggled with missed tackles all season, was faked out by Brian Green on an 11-yard touchdown play in the first quarter, and missed a shot at Gadsden just before halftime, allowing the Portland star to race untouched for a 45-touchdown that brought the Forest Dragons within 27-20. On Portland's final drive, Stingley was called for pass interference on first-and-seven from the Forest Dragons' 15, and Guidry hit Gadsden for two passes to give Portland a second-and-five at the Albany eight with 12.7 seconds left.
Albany's Eddie Brown finished with four touchdowns, and Chad Dukes gained 63 yards on the ground to break the Firebirds' single-game rushing record.
The previous record was 58 yards, set by Johnnie Jones in the Firebirds' inaugural season in 1990.
Lineman Joe Jacobs had another big game for the Firebirds, recovering a fumbled snap on Portland's first play from scrimmage. He also had two tackles for losses, and helped pressure Guidry into an incomplete pass on third-and-10 in the fourth quarter, forcing a field goal.
The game was marred by numerous penalties, but few turnovers.
Albany came into the game near the bottom of the league in turnover plus-minus at minus-2, and Portland was third at plus-4, but the Firebirds did not give the ball away - except for the onside kick, which does not count as a fumble because the Firebirds never had possession.
The Forest Dragons had two turnovers, Jacobs' fumble recovery on their first play, and Stingley's interception on their last.
Albany wide receiver/defensive back Stan Petry was questionable for the game, but played despite a sore hamstring.
In typical fashion, WR/DB Cornelius White did not get many passes thrown his way, but he made some big plays.
He returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the officials ruled that he stepped out of bounds at the Firebirds' 24.
Pawlawski hit him for a 25-yard pass on the next play to set up Tim Brown's touchdown run with 3:33 left, which proved to be the game-winning score.
The Firebirds were scheduled to fly out of Portland after the game, and have only three days to prepare for their next game, Friday night at Nashville, which lost its first game of the season, to San Jose, this weekend.
